Binc, the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, is offering assistance to comic and book shops affected by the hurricane (see “Binc Gears Up to Help Retailers ”).
Gabe Fowler, owner of Desert Island Comics in Brooklyn, NY, posted on Instagram that the store was in trouble, after the landlord informed him that a liquor store down the street had offered double the rent and if Desert Island wanted to stay put they would have to match it. That’s the bad news. The good news is that within days, a GoFundMe raised almost $90,000 to either pay the higher rent in the current location or finance the move to a new one, and if any money is left over, the store will pay artists to create a free comics anthology. Two men in Halloween masks broke the glass front door of Grand Adventures Comics and Games in Murfreesboro, TN, and stole Magic: The Gathering cards worth $8,000, but the police quickly nabbed two suspects. “They went straight in there, cleared out the cases,” manager Chris Pryor told News 2. “The reason why I know they cased [the store] before is because, at the time, we had cards in both cases and I had recently changed that and I put snacks in them. They went right to that case.” Police identified the car from surveillance video and stopped it within hours; the masks and stolen merch were inside in plain sight. Phillip Clodfelter, 42, and Kelly Garner, 64, who are suspected of other area comic store burglaries as well, were arrested and are being held on $48,000 bond. A new game store, Gametopia, will open on October 13 in Penfield, NY. The store serves beer and wine (a full liquor license is in the works) and sandwiches, and customers can both play and buy games there. “When it came down to it, I really wanted a game store I could have a beer at, and nobody in town wanted to do it, so I did,” owner Joshua Stein told Rochester First. Westword profiles Wayne Winsett, owner of Time Warp Comics of Boulder, CO, as the store celebrates its 40th anniversary. Winsett started out as the manager of what was then a local branch of Mile High Comics and then bought the store in 1984. "Every day is its own little struggle,” Winsett said, “But I never once dreaded coming to work. I've always wanted to be here.”Shop Talk, October 2024
Posted by Brigid Alverson on October 10, 2024 @ 10:36 am CT
Main Street Comics and Games in Marshall, NC, which opened in 2021, was damaged and its stock destroyed when Hurricane Helene caused the French Broad River to overflow its banks and flood the town, cresting at 22 feet. The flooding destroyed the store’s stock and left it filled with mud and toxic muck from the industry upstream. The owners have set up a GoFundMe to help the store recover, and they are asking that those affected by the flood not donate but instead share the fundraiser on social media.
“Life is a semblance of normal,” Morgan’s Comics of Asheville, NC, posted on their Facebook after Hurricane Helene did a number on their town. The store has been open during regular hours and has been serving as a distribution site for donated diapers, food, toys, and personal products as well as a place for people to drop in, charge their phones, and decompress a bit. Owner Morgan Wells Albritton also posted a video with links to emergency assistance, and the store offers entertainment for kids while the adults apply for aid.
It's too early to know how Hurricane Milton affected Florida retailers, but Bradenton’s Bat City Comics posted on Facebook that the store was battened down and prepared for the storm, adding, “Our building has been here for 144 years, here’s hoping she keeps holding strong!” The store will be closed on October 10 and probably the next day as well.
On an ironic note, Blackbird Comics and Coffeehouse, winner of this year’s Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award, posted on its Facebook that it will have to to reschedule a planned talk on the science of hurricanes because of… the hurricane.
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